The Dark Descent
by Alone in the blight
Summary: A mage against the world Elska Marwolaeth is. little she knew about ventures, love and the mysterious ways of life...Time only knows. *title and summary might change*
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: hello once more! First of all, a BIG shout to Tokyo Express (Tokyo was here) the Beta of this chapter and hopefully the next chapters. Secondly, I am very optimistic this day; so many ideas brewing in my head x3. Anyways, so this is a 'DLC' story with whole new characters, places, bosses and many more. Hopefully I will write 5000ish word per chapter to satisfy the whole length issue… but please for the love of Solaire support me on this one. In order to entertain you, you in return must give me feedbacks; because from my experience, unless I am motivated I will lose the urge to write. Agreed?**

**Good.**

**Oh, before getting started I would like to shed some light on the main characters Elska of Vinheim. She is a slender woman of average height with braids of gold although she far from royalty and a nasty scar crazing her left cheek from an encounter with hollowed soldiers. Her skin is pale white from her ventures in Lordran (it was healthier and more fresh before) and her eyes are emerald in colour. Her garments are in fact her mother's whom among many others perished when the curse of the undead plagued her homeland. A black robe decorated by enchanted tiny vines on both sides, in the chest lies her family's crest which is two black vined coiled over each other vertically with two wings on each side.**

**Also, some of the game mechanics will be novelized to fit properly.**

**Now without further endue, let's get started!**

**Dedication: to my friend Earthscraper. I realllly hope you like this one! **

. . .

Another night in the Undead Burg

It was by far the worse, Elska thought to herself as she hid her petit body among a pile of corpses. She could hear them, those hollows who were once soldiers and knights of valor and courage. Now they are nothing but crazed hounds tearing anyone apart even among themselves. She muffled her moan of pain as a soldier passed by. Yes, it was the same one who stabbed her a few hours earlier in her thigh. She was not a woman of faith and so she the option of healing herself was not available. She heard of those green flasks of Estus, the undead favorite capable of healing most injuries. Yet, she was not under such curse, till this day she did not know why. Marwolaeth, her very father, was not cursed either. Only Elska and her father remained human and sane in her family – the black vines.

The memory of her father killing her hollowed mother still haunts her memory. Her first decision after the outbreak was to seek some of her father's friends in New Londo. She found out the grim truth eventually, the entire city had been flooded. The inhabitants of the city were dead, their ghost haunting the ruins and assaulting anyone who dared venture near. It was a disheartening sight, all of her family and friends were dead. With nowhere else to go she left in hopes of finding shelter. After days of aimless wandering, she found herself in the Undead Burg with battalions of heedless undead soldiers. All of them were hostile, attacking anyone in sight. She could defend herself with her Black Vine catalyst and wits but there were so many of them, they would easily overwhelm her. With no other option, she jumped into a small pile of corpses. The mass bodies had a horrible stench to them. They had been dead for days now, the corpses were rotting.

"Arh!" Elska shrieked in pain as small rat bit her, most likely under the assumption that she was also a corpse. The rat tore of a small part of her flesh as it bit down. She began to bleed.

A nearby undead soldier heard her scream; it raised its broken sword and lunged at her. The undead soldier brought his broken sword upward and prepared to bring the blade down, only for it to lodge itself in the corpse above her. The soldier's sword was stuck in the corpse. That gave her a chance to emerge from the pile of corpse and stab her dagger into its right leg. Losing the support in its leg, the undead soldier fell on one knee. Seeing another opportunity to inflict more damage, Elska plunged her dagger into its neck causing it to whelp in pain. It began to die.

"Ssshhh" hushed Elska quietly as the man had finally been put out of his misery. There are more undead soldiers roaming in a distance but none seemed the notice the scuffle. Elska let out a sigh of relief and thanked the stars for the small blessing. She longed to have at least an hour of sleep, but without a safe zone to rest in, sleep would leave her open to assault.

Just when things were starting to become quiet, she heard clashes of steel outside of the abandoned residence. Elska took her chance despite her grinding pain she went outside lest it would be someone capable of aiding her.

Well, not quite.

A huge man in full steel armour, a true signature of Berenike's knights, was dancing a dance of arms with half a dozen of the undead soldiers. Another half dozen of their comrades lay dead around them. They formed a circle of corpses around the ensuing battle.

"COME ON! WHAT ARE WAITING FOR?!" he took off his helmet to reveal a normal hollowed face and yet with his sanity intact, a new thing to Elska that was, only to bash it on a foe while slicing the other with his great sword.

Elska's mind was screaming not to interfere, but she completely ignored that. She limped over the scene and fired three consecutive shots of soul arrows, missing a soldier completely whilst leaving a charred gap in the other two. The whole attack from the rear left the remaining three soldiers in utter confusion, leaving the bare chested one vulnerable for a backstab who met his end as a blade emerged out his chest. Shaking themselves out of their confusion, one of the undead soldiers charged the maimed knight while the other primed his sword for Elska.

The one facing the Berenike stroke multiple strikes on the chest but was unable to penetrate the thick steel plate of the knight. In return, the man hacked his left leg off completely, then used his great sword to decapitate the soldier. The head hit the ground with a thud, then rolled into a nearby bush. The one charging at Elska wasn't any luckier, he found himself fixed to the ground by a pair of glowing black vines sprouting from the ground. The last thing he saw was the glow of the soul arrow primed at his head which caused it to explode in a bloody splatter, painting the ground a dark red.

Still, with their combined triumph of the undead, Elska grew more restless and less trustful of the maimed knight in front of her "A-are you hollow?"

"HA HA! Not in a thousand years! I am running out of the precious sprites of humanity that's all!" his answer was reassuring and disturbing due to his cracked voice. "The name is Heldenmut of Berenike and you?"

"Elska of Vinhiem." She replied.

"I ... Appreciate the help. Nothing I can't handle that reassu-" he stopped in mid-sentence when the mage collapsed on the ground; her wound had finally got the best of her. Her body reached its limit.

The knight immediately approached her "Here! Have my Estus!"

"Not…undead…"

"Well, I guess now is the perfect time…hold still." Without thinking, Heldenmut took of his right gauntlet to reveal a red sign on his palm. He clasped her cold hand tightly, then it happened….

Her skin started to wither away leaving ripples of muscles. She resembled as a skinless corpse in a matter of seconds. Snail tracks scars started to form on her chest as well at the left side. Elska felt herself slipping into darkness and she would have, if not for Heldenmut's interference; he gave her his last vial of Estus. All the accumulating pain she gained was washed by the bitter Estus. Her wounds closed before his eyes as expected. However, when Elska gazed upon her current state, her reaction was rather different….

"What have you done?! No no n-no! NO NO NO NOOO!"

"It is the only way to save your life! I don't believe in gods and their so called miracles and I am pretty sure you are as good as me with these things. You should be grateful…"

"Grateful? For turning me into an abomination?!" she screamed

She didn't expect to be pinned into the wall by his brutish grip "You want to know the true meaning of abomination? To witness you homeland being slaughtered by her king's order… that's an abomination. To see children and women killed and raped by his majesty's finest… that's an abomination. To get orders to kill your family and to fight your friends just for the king's delight….THAT IS A DAMN ABOMINATION!"

He fell down his knees recalling such memories he tried to repress since the spate. Tears flowed from his sullen eyes. "I-I am sorry. I-"

"No need…no need. Now come and let us find a proper shelter…."

. . .

_Eight months later…._

"CHANNELER!" warned Heldenmut the moment he saw the six eyed foe. Elska hit her catalyst on the floor to summon black thick thorns which impaled Seath's servant, leaving no moment for retaliation. The knight quickly descended downstairs to dispatch the pesky crystal hollows.

"Well done, young girl. Your talents are certainly growing."

"All thanks to you, Mentor." Perhaps finding Logan trapped in Sen's fortress was the greatest achievement in her life. In a mere exchange of being escorted to the Archives, Logan would teach Elska more sorceries.

"Nonsense! You are the daughter of Marwolaeth the Earth mage one of my dearest friends and strongest mages in Vinhiem!" his words sent twinkles of joy and pride in her heart "Your family, the Black Vine, was always hated in the silver circle for its peculiar bond with nature. You have to understand dear that everything foreign to us is feared and disrespected… never had I voted against your father when…"

"I… know, Mentor." Elska's father was once a proud member of the Silver Circle among the rulers of Vinhiem only till they discarded his arts of sorceries as heretic ones. He was expelled out of the Silver Circle straight into the city's prison for straight five years… perhaps the worst five years in her life.

"Els, Bonfire ahead." Said Heldenmut drenched in sweat after dispatched those crystal hollows.

"Coming, Hell!" things had changed between the duo within the past eight months. They shared their stories among many things. Heldenmut acted as the guardian of Elska and in return she obliterated foes from afar.

The bonfire was in the balcony overviewing beautiful scenery of trees … and crystal golems. The trio sat around it taking the chance to refill their Estus. "How many sprites we have?"

"Let's see… one, two, five. Five humanities." Answered Heldenmut. he knew that Elska had to consume a humanity every week or so lest she would turn. As if she was getting… addicted to devour humanity; indeed, he on the other hand barely used them twice a month. He reminded himself to discuss that pressing matter later on.

. . .

Heldenmut took his time to sleep that day. He didn't wake up till afternoon. He cooked some mushroom head on the bonfire before wearing his armour of steel. By all means, it was falling apart; it embraced so many blows and slashes that the bearded blacksmith of Astora they encountered told him " 'ts no good, friend. Not even the mighty blacksmith deity can repair that".

Still, Heldenmut refused the idea of giving up on his armour. He was sworn by his knighthood to wear the symbol of Berenike and protect his majesty with such arms. His great sword and tower shield wasn't any better either; his shield was filled with arrow holes, cracks, and a charred rusty portion in the upper part from dealing with a hollowed pyromancer. Eventually, he dispelled such thoughts and looked for his comrades.

"This…this is GLORIOUS!" Big Hat Logan exclaimed whilst reading more books of sorceries. Elska followed his lead as well with all these books around her. "You shouldn't yell like that; we did not slay all the hollows around here you know."

"To blazes with you! A brute like you cannot comprehend such glorious discoveries! Begone now, go kill something away from here…"

"Mentor, you shoul-"

" Ohhh, I can comprehend things alright. The question is: can you do so with a sword shoved in your gullet?" Heldenmut was a man with a great temper, he couldn't just accept such insult and so he raised his great sword. Logan conjured a soul spear right at the knight.

Luckily for him, Elska interfered and raised a dome of vines around Heldenmut "STOP IT!"

Elska stood between them "What is wrong with you both?!"

Suddenly dozens of crystal hollows lead by two channelers stormed the room. "Quick! To the secret chamber!"

The trio ran to a small room they discovered by accident the day before. Heldenmut pulled the lever again to close the entrance to slow their advance. Unfortunately, he heard the blasted enchantment of the Dance of Power as he called it performed by the Channelers. The hollows broke into the room with ease, the door leading to the room weakened with age.

"Hell, shield on!"

"On it!" he grabbed his tower shield horizontally with both hands for Elska to enchant it with small thorns. A technique they used in tight spaces to hold off foes to be killed by her spells. Alas the horde of hollows was feet away. Logan and Elska started to fire away their soul arrows and spears but there were simply too many. Heldenmut did his best to halt their advance, but his shield was in no condition to withstand a powered Channeler's soul arrow. It went straight into his shield to the shelves on book behind him. The gap revealed another hidden room behind this one.

"Mentor! Behind us!" the old man quickly reacted and shot a soul spear at the book shelf. Unlike other rooms, this one was Empty and humid with black walls decorated by peculiar symbols drawn in blood. In the center lied a stone pedestal with a bloody black pyramid shaped stone. A strange aura of power and knowledge surrounded it. It…it almost whispered to Elska to take it.

Both the hollows and Channelers stopped when the trio entered the room. They slowly backed away; some even threw their weapons and ran for their lives. Heldenmut drew his great sword just in case "Something is wrong about this place… better to leave it unchanged."

"This… this is beautiful. Can't you feel it?" Elska slowly uttered as if she was hypnotized. Logan was strangely drawn to the mysterious stone. He made the greatest mistake in his life by touching it. The blood in his hand basically exploded out of its vessel to feed the strange book. The old man had his whole blood sucked till naught left by magical means.

"MENTOR! NO!" the woman of Vinhiem cried but it was already too late; the legend of magic had finally met his end by the very thing he adored.

The symbols on the walls started to spew blood all over the place. Soul scattering wails of pain and dismay originated from the book. It oozed thick black blood on the cold floor which materialized into an abomination of a filthy long black haired woman in slimy blood stained dress _"Why?! Why! We away! We away from others! Me protect me protect! You… you… YOU DIE!"_

The woman stretched her arm onto Elska's right arm "AARRGH!" the blood sucking pain was beyond her threshold of tolerance. With a roar, Heldenmut cleaved the extending arm in one swing. Elska took such precious time to drink an Estus.

"_No why you here?! YOU DEAD!" _the nameless woman literally threw up a deluge of boiling blood right at Heldenmut who in turn was melting alive as it ate through his flesh and armour. For a mere second, Elska stood frozen in place… she couldn't comprehend the scene out of shock.

"El..Elska…I have f-failed you…" were his last words. A storm of emotions tore the woman's heart as she gazed at the mesh of the only man who cared for here in this harsh, unforgiving world.

"I…will…destroy…you…" she held her catalyst with both hands and closed her eyes. The blooded woman morphed her other hand a sharp scythe and went for the kill _" DIE! DIE! D-"_

She was greeted by hundreds of tiny sharp vines all over her body but that was not all; some pulled her extremities so hard it rendered her limbless. Elska lost control after that; she was not the one controlling her body…. Her catalyst was.

Her delicate left hand became a black, dry and wooden one with sharp talons for fingers. A small portion of her face turned as well. "_Slumber is but mere setback. The ancients will be awakened … and the world will knee to us once more."_

"_NO! NO! You back! You back! Yo-" _her head was brutally splattered in a crushing stomp.

" '_ts Time to return home, vessel."_

_. . ._

"_Pa, what is this? Looks old!"_

"_Ha ha! It sure is my dear. This is the black vine catalyst… a family heritage. It is a very powerful catalyst with its unique spells."_

"_Wow! That's great pa! I want to play with it… please please please?"_

"_Not yet ,my child. In time, you will have plenty of time to play with it. I want you to promise me something. Can you do it for me Elska?"_

"_I guess so…"_

_. . ._

Elska slowly opened her eyes, she actually thought the woman had killed her but apparently it was quite the opposite. She couldn't believe how much carnage she had caused around her. She noticed however a red sprite floating in the air… naturally, she pulled out her bottomless box and deposited the bloody soul in it. 'Powerful souls aren't meant for devouring and trading only, my dear. Arms and spells can be crafted with the proper tools and innovation' were one of the things she learnt from her past mentor. Her reaction to her woodened hand and cheek was of awe and shock and yet she had rather important things to care about.

For a long she stayed near Heldenmut's corpse. She felt like the world had finally showed its sharp, wicked grin to her. .. She felt stranded without his protection and Master Logan's guidance. However, the accursed stone seeped a muffled plethora of dark whispers which grew louder and louder with each passing second. The temptation overwhelmed her senses of grief and sorrow.

Finally she touched the stone…

. . .

**I was about to make it a 5000k+ but I think this is better. Still, this is quite lengthy, no? now onto some explanations:**

**I probably assumed that the curse of the undead is transmissible like a plague of sort.**

**The mini italic paragraph was but a flashback.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: ey, welcome again my dearest! Big thanks to the seeker64 and ParagonEmil for their constructive feedback. Much appreciated guys! Another thing I want to discuss is the lack of fresh blood in our little community. Should you find a dark soul-ish friend/relative with a bit of talent, encourage him/her to write a fic or two.**

** . . .**

Whenever Logan became tired or bored, he would take a walk to the lavish garden of his house which happened to be right next to the Vinhiem dragon school. Knowledge and beautiful scenery, what more could he ask for? The sound of bird chirping, the fresh scent of grass, the warmth of the sun all soothed his body and mind until…

"Oh, look who's out of raggedy asylum?"

"A pleasure to meet you too, Wunleska." By all he held dear, he loathed that elderly – yet grasping some essence of beauty crone. However, he owed her some respect from her brilliant policy with the other kingdoms but in the same time he despised her slithering ways of ascending to the very top of the silver circle. By all means, she is _way_ inferior to him in the soul arts, her tongue however…

"Ohhh You and your formalities, Logan. I can't wait to get rid of you and I am pretty sure it goes otherwise." Again, she spat sprinkling some droplets on the man's face.

He on the other hand remained calm as ever. "Your temper will be the end of you my dear. Speaking of which, how is that deal with the murky people of the swamps? I can't wait to drink bitter root tea."

His words ignited another nerve of hers "Ugh! Those filthy flame-tossers! We paid them five thousand gold coins upfront and what do we get after three weeks of silence? A pesky courier saying that the caravan what attacked by some bandits a week ago! If I could just… argh!" she started to cough vigorously afterward.

Logan hid his smile under his awfully big hat. "Next time, we ought to hire mercenaries from Berenike; strong and sturdy they are."

"Those steel mongrels are no better than those bandits. Does your thick skull forget the fact of their assault on our allies in Carim?"

"After Carim's full scale attack on their borders, mind you. We shou-"the ground shook briskly beneath their feet. The glass from the second floor shattered revealing a thick black vine.

"Damn it, Marwolaeth." The mage muttered as he jogged to the school with Wunleska. Students and mentors alike were fleeing for their lives. Logan and the witch braved and made their way to the second floor.

"About bloody time!" grunted Asough, a bastardly descendant of the mighty giants themselves. He leaned on the wall with a fist sized puncture in his belly.

"What happened?!" Wunleska shouted.

"Some novice touched Barky's catalyst. Chaos reigned after…ugh, just get in there and stop it!" Logan mentally assured himself that his friend would survive the ordeal. His other friend however, he was not so certain.

Upon entering the room, impaled corpses of young pupils greeted the duo. Logan hadn't seen so much carnage for a long time. He quickly dispelled thoughts and focused on the catalyst in the middle of the room.

Right in the center was the novice who started the carnage. His body was slowly turning into a wooden one. Without hesitation, Logan conjured his great spell while the crone fired a barrage of small soul shards. They succeed in instantly killing the curious student. The catalyst simply fell on the floor followed by the withering of all vines around them. The silver circle held many dark secrets and responsibilities. Both of them were fully aware of that fact and so the death of an innocent was justified.

. . .

Marwolaeth slowly regained consciousness. The last event he recalled was Micket taking his catalyst despite his dire warning in earlier this year. He found himself chained and stripped of all but a raggedy loincloth. He could feel the magic barriers surrounding him as well as the belts of prying eyes of the silver circle.

"You…you insignificant heretic! If only I was in charge when your blighted figure arrived in our fine city… I would banish you to Ash Lake!" the raspy voice was of course Wunleska's. She continued after a brief pause " We welcomed you in our city. We sheltered you and your pathetic family. We even made you one of us! And how do you repay us? By spreading death and mayhem!"

"The boy shouldn't have t-"

"SILENCE! You don't have any rights, even to breathe. Guards! Execute this vulgar scoundrel!" the other members mumbled in approval.

Logan could not hold his tongue anymore "If I recall correctly, the counsel support equalitarianism not dictatorship. Even the arch mage herself, cannot make the tiniest decisions without our words, dear members. I say we let him go."

"_Madness!"_

"_Have you gone mad?!"_

"ENOUGH!" Asough's booming voice silenced the members even despite his injury "That chained man had given us enough warnings for years to come about how powerful his catalyst was and how only his bloodline are capable of controlling it. He had done nothing in the last nine years but to spread the torch of knowledge to our youngling. His death won't bring the dead. We are more civilized to have primitive urges such as 'vengeance' to affect our call of judgment."

Some of the members had a change of heart; others like Wunleska remained stubborn as ever. Alas the time of voting had come. Surprisingly enough, the naysayers were four or five men short from the majority.

Marwolaeth smiled faintly at his friends before the arch mage's announcement "Since the naysayers are mostly elders, we are to decide how exactly the traitor is going to live. He is to be left rotting in the cold dungeons. You will _never _see the sun again as long as I live."

Logan opened his mouth to protest but words won't come out; the laws of Vinhiem are above anyone. He felt helpless as he watched his friend being dragged like a common thief by the cold guards.

He quickly stormed out of the place with such rage pumping in his veins. Right at that moment, the least he could do was to provide help to his family.

. . .

. . .


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: so I am writing this in advance while TokyoExpress(I was here) does his magic to the second chapter. Enjoy!**

Akivr the bloodletter was everything his clan despised: weak, crippled, and a pacifist. He was shunned from his homeland of Hemus about a decade ago. Since then, he roamed the land as a scavenger and a blessing for wandering travelers and adventurers. His ancestral sworn enemies, the people of Thira, treated a renegade such as himself with equal cruelty. How could he forget the day when these 'holy' soldiers set him ablaze and tossed him in the swamps of plight? They knew that his kind are fairly resistant to fire, they just wanted to him suffer.

Akivr stared at the patch of water below his feet. Only dismay and despair were written on his charred face. He looked at his right mangled arm that was no longer of use and winced in pain, while gritting on his sharp teeth letting trickles of blood drop on the water. He mentally reminded himself to continue savaging in this ruins of Mathal temple. Such place had immense importance in the past.

"May the lady in white crush you, _father_."

"**Master, danger…" **his trusty golem of animated flesh, Rvika, alerted the scavenger.

"Don't fail me this time my sweet wretchling" the disfigured man touched a red bracelet on his wrist which in return morphed into a blood sucking leech that drilled its way to the man's heart. His senses became sharper and he felt anxiety as he searched got any sign of danger, all for a price that is.

He conjured a boiling orb of blood but soon he quenched it when he saw the potential danger. He whispered to his golem to hide. The mass of flesh dissembled to strips of rotten flesh while his master holed himself in the rubble near him.

His temporary unmatched hearing picked up seven beating heart. one a women judging by her soft throbbing and the rest were men due to their stronger heartbeat. He spotted A Young cleric was accompanied by half a dozen of soldiers in blue tinted armour marched through the empty hallways of the ruin.

"Rem'nd me why we're here, Zeno?" asked one in the back.

"Her hol'ness' sensed strange 'nflux of mag'c you knave! We are to bl'ndly obey ….or do you want to have a _cleans'ng?"_ the other, in the front, replied.

"N-no, so be 't." Akivr could see the man shivering in fear. Still he had no idea what kind of torture was this 'cleansing'. He started to get hazy from the all the blood drainage. He didn't expect the leech to drain vast amount of blood in short time and so he yanked it out of his heart. Unfortunately, it started to squeal in disapproval exposing his position.

"Who 's there?! Show yourself!"

"Easy there, lads. I am but a humble traveler … there is no need to kill a crippled man , right? " he showed himself in a nil hope to spare the bloodshed.

"More l'ke a hemus scum! We should put you out of your m'sery!" three of the soldiers advanced with their faintly shining white pikes. The golem quickly reassembled to fend his master by a monstrous lunge that sent two of them feet away. The third was crushed under the golem's stomp.

"Mc'la, k'll it!"

The cleric opened her small book of miracles to unleash the wrath of her holiness upon the wretched piece of flesh in front of her. The inanimate structure simply could not withstand the rays of piercing light. The bloodletter on the other hand was limping for his life but his mangled left leg wasn't that helpful at all.

"Your k'n… d'sgust me." said one of the soldiers who walked towards Akivr with unseen pride and pinned him with his leg. Just when death was about to reap the cripple, a vortex materialized next to him.

A few moments earlier…

Endless events floated around Elska as she was sucked into this never-ending wormhole. She saw all matter of things in a blurry way. Her self-awareness was diminished to a state of non-existence in such journey across place and time. Of all the things she saw, something or rather someone stood out in comparison. A dragon, yes, a one winged yellow dragon bearing numerous scars across his scaled body. He seemed to bow when he saw her or that was what she thought at least.

Alas her trek came to an end when she was forcedly thrown into a large hallway of sort. Strange symbols were carved on its ancient walls similar to the ones she saw earlier. Somehow, a chilling rush of nostalgia plagued her mind when she noticed the gigantic sculpture up ahead; a red large statue resembling a bald masculine man with something protruding from his back, a woman in golden robe pleading and what seemed to be someone who got his statue pulled out except the legs and a portion of his midsection.

"W-what bew'tchment 's th's?" the man in front of here was shaking out of fear for some reason as if he saw a specter. He regained his senses and drew his side sword " begone, w'tch of V'rlyar!"

His arm was severed before the clash by a third party of who remained hidden till then. Fifteen men and women ambushed the dozen around her. Every ambusher let out a deafening roar then she or he transformed into a humanoid dragon. Some even had fully grown wings and tails '_For the ancients! Death and glory!'_

Before Elska could decide anything, a wrinkly hand clutched her heel. "Not our fight dear… come with me." said the ugliest man Elska had laid her eyes on.

He leaded her out of the fray but one of the soldiers noticed their attempt to flee. Their path of escape lead them to a large chamber with a maze like structure, some of the walls were outright smashed while others remained intact like the day it was built. The duo ended up in a dead end which wasn't good a slightest. Their purser kept smashing the walls with his great hammer till he reached them, his first swing was deflected by a wall of blood erected by the maimed man. She took the chance to entangle him with her black vines.

"Who are you? What is this place?"

The disfigured man swiftly ended the man's life with a rusty dagger to the neck before he could even talk "Worthless it is to reason with Thirans. The exit is not far, come…"

"I am _not _going to move a single step without further explanation!" the trust began to vanish a little. The clashes of swords and magic started to die a little bit "Look, by Maz's blood, I will answer every question of your once we get to safety. Neither the Thirans nor the dragon people are friendly as I am!"

With a nod, Elska agreed to continue. However, she reminded herself to be vigilant around the stranger. The foot steps behind them grew louder as they found their way to the other side of the maze. Their escape eventually led them to a three forked path. For each path, there was a door of different colour: the first was bloody red, the second was of auburn, and the third was purely white.

"Which to choose?!" inquired Elska.

"Take the brown one, I will meet you on the other side. Watch out for traps!" he didn't leave much explanation afterwards. He opened the red door with haste exposing a fleshy-like narrow hallway with thick blood oozing from the walls. When she tried to go with him, he stopped her " such path is for my people only. You will have to go on your own this time."

It has been quite some time since Elska was by herself. She loathed such feeling of being alone and stranded… she wished Heldenmut was by her side sheltering her form the dark side of this world. Yet, she swallowed her fear and opened the auburn door. Elska felt like she was traversing a hollowed tree with all of thorns and vines sprouting all over the narrow hallway. The further she went, the narrower the path became. She had to squeeze herself sometimes. Thankfully, her slim physique aided her quite a lot.

She stopped to catch her breath. The place was awfully quite so her pursers must be far away. Yet, she had this feeling that… someone or something is watching her. She conjured four homing soul mass just in case before moving on. Upon her first passage from a narrow slit, two of the soul masses targeted a wooden effigy in front of her. Dozens more were up ahead, they felt so … real. A chill ran down the mage's spine when she saw the horrid expressions upon their face as if they were fleeing to the temple. She treaded carefully trying not to touch any of them but she accidently tripped over a jotting vine. Her heart was dropped when one of the wooden figures grabbed her catalyst '_**Molinsh va karaho'**_

'_**Molinsh va karaho' **_in a tick, she was overwhelmed by dozens of them. Quickly, she yanked her catalyst from its grasp and casted Aural Decoy right away. The echoing sound gave her enough time to slip away from the wooden carcasses. Alas, the sunlight light was feet away. Elska reached the exit only to find the maimed one tied by a group of tall and dark savages with pierces all over their body.

'T_his be delicious….'_

_The BloodWit Leech_

_A small leech found in the Plight Swamps. Very common to find but very hard to acquire due to its high blood demand. Many who sought to sharpen their senses for the sake of knowledge or power had become another rotting carcass in the swamps only to be the host of a rather more vile type of leeches…._


End file.
